Automatic tension device for loom-shuttles.



Ho. 717,796. PATENTED- JAN. 6, 1903. v

BALDWIN.

AUTOMATIC TENSION DEVICE FOR LOOM SHUTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1900.

no MODEL.

C 1 -iilm=g $5! .71 n E ffz f 2 Witnesses v I entor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED BALDWIN, OF GOFFS FALLS, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

AUTOMATIC TENSION DEVICE FOR LOOM-SHUTTLES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 717,796, dated January 6, 1903. Application filed November 5,1900. Serial No. 35,433- (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, ALFRED BALDWIN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Goffs an automatic tension device for loom-shuttles; and the invention to be herein described is intended as an improvement on that de scribed in United States Patent No. 680,682, granted to me August 20, 1901. In that patcut the yarn was led from the bobbin over a curved surface at one end of a spring-controlled lever and thence through the delivcry-eye of the shuttle. The lever when the shuttle was in the shuttle-box pressed the yarn crossing its curved surface against the face of a friction-plate, and as the shuttle was moved to deliver yarn the pressure exerted by the lever on the yarn to control the tension thereon varied as the strain exerted on the thread in unwinding it from the bobbin varied, so that the yarn was permitted to leave the shuttle and be laid in the warp under a substantially equal tension, so that no adj nstment was necessary to control the tension and make it equable between the full and the substantially empty bobbin. In that patent the end of the thread was inserted by hand through a hole in the tension-lever and the free end of the lever under strain upon it of. the thread was moved in the arc of a circle away from the friction-plate. The curved surface referred to of the tension-lever after considerable use is liable to be grooved or scored by the wear of the thread, and if a fine count of yarn were used in a shuttle in which the surface of the tension-lever had been worn by a larger count the finer-count yarn might enter such groove and not be subjected to tension; hence the necessity that the yarnsustaining surface of the tension-lever be not worn.

In this present application I have provided a tension device composed of a yielding and a fixed member, between which a part of the yarn between its free end and the bobbin may beinserted by alateral movement of the yarn, due to a pull on the end of the yarn. One member of the tension device is a spring-controlled lever and the other a friction-plate, the lever being provided with a roller to support the yarn on its way from the bobbin into the yarn-delivery eye of a shuttle, said roller being of a hard material and turning under the action of the yarn passing over it, the rotation of the roller obviating wearing-grooves in the part of the tension-lever sustaining the yarn. In my present invention the roller of the tension-lever occupies a vertical position substantially at right angles to the center of the delivery-eye in the wall of the shuttle and the lever is free to yield, under the action of a suitable spring, to excessive strain of the yarn leaving the bobbin, the roller moving away from the friction-plate and in the arc of a circle away from the end of the bobbin. Hence one part of this invention consists, essentially, in providing a friction-roll upon the free end of a tension-lever having an opening or recess to receive the yarn or thread, although there are other novel features in construction, all of which will be fully set forth in thefollowing specification and claims and clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same, of which I Figure 1 represents a broken elevation of a shuttle provided with my'improved tension device. Fig. 2 is a detailed elevation showing my improved tension-lever with its antifriction-roll. Fig. 3 is a plan view of said lever. Fig. 4: is a cross-sectional elevation taken through a shuttle from which the bobbin has been removed and showing my improved tension device. Fig. 5 is a detail in elevation, showing the tension-lever with its spring-actuating mechanism. Fig. 6 is a detailed elevation showing the friction-plate. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the latter, and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of friction-plate.

Corresponding characters of reference des ignate like parts in all the views.

A represents a portion of a loom-shuttle; A, the delivery-eye. B is its bobbin-chamber, and B the bobbin.

0 is a chamber formed in the leading end of the shuttle and adapted to contain myimproved tension device. The delivery-eye communicates with the chamber C.

D is a transverse partition or bridge upon which rests the yarn or thread S as it passes from the bobbin to the shuttle-eye, the top of said bridge being substantially upon a plane with the center of said shuttle-eye.

The walls of the chamber 0 are substantiallyin the vertical center of the shuttlebody; but viewing the top of the shuttle said chamber has the appearance of being formed at one side of said center on account of the lateral projection a, which partially covers the tension-lever to enable a weaver to practice the common method for threading the shuttleviz., that of sucking the yarn or thread through the eye of the sh uttleas will be hereinafter mentioned.

The spring-actuated tension-lever E and friction plate F are preferably curved, as shown in the drawings, to thus afford a space T between them for a purpose to be explained later. The friction-plate F has a base f, provided with a perforation f for the reception of a screw 1, by which said plate may be secured in position in the shuttle. The lever E is also shown as mounted on said screw. The lever E may be struck from sheet metal and be provided with ears 6 to sustain a pin e, upon which is mounted a roll 6 and in order that theyarn may pass partially around said roll and be led into the eye A said lever is provided with an opening or recess 6 at the lower edge thereof, so that a wad of yarn, formed by gathering together or rolling up the free end of the yarn S and laid in the space T between the lever and friction-plate, may be sucked from said space through the tension-lever and thence through the shuttleeye, or said yarn maybe readily drawn from the'space T through the recess 6 of the tension-lever E and out through the shuttle-eye by an ordinary hook.

Figs. 1 and 5 show the tension-spring for the lever E and means for adjusting the same. The sleeve G is carried upon the screw I, and between the upper end of the sleeve and the head i of said screw is mounted an adjusting-plate H. One end of the lever E is bent in the form of a cylinder, as at 6 and of a size to loosely fit the sleeve G, and upon said sleeve, between the cylindrical portion 6 of the lever and the plate H, is mounted a helical spring J, the upper end j of which is passed through the perforation 721 of the plate H, while the lower end j is bent so as to bear against the leverE in a manner to cause it to press normally against the curved end f or roll f of the plate F. (See Fig. 8.)

The friction-plate F has a curved wing that rises vertically from the basef thereof, and the top of said wing is inclined at its upper edge near its end, and that portion of said wing directly in contact with the tension-lever or the roller thereof is of less height vertically than the tension-lever, so that the upper inclined edge at 3 of said wing is located below the upper edge of the tension-lever. When the thread is sucked or drawn through the delivery-eye A from the space T, the yarn is laid upon the surface f of the wing, and strain upon the yarn causes the latter to slide down the incline f and enter between the tension-lever and the friction-plate, thus automatically inserting the yarn in position to be subjected to tension.

Fig. 8 of the drawings shows a modified form of friction-plate, it having a roller f The construct-ion shown in Fig. 1 has a narrower base than the others and is not provided with a roll, while in the other views a portion of the base is made wider, thus affording a support for a portion of the tensionlever.

It is obvious that if but one roll is tobe depended upon to obviate wearing creases in the surfaces over which the weft passes on its way from the bobbin to the delivery-eye of a shuttle it will be preferable to use such a roll upon the tension-lever; yet the use of such a tension-roll on either member of the tension device is of material advantage.

Having described my improvements, what I claim is- 1. A loom-shuttle havinga delivery-eye in one wall thereof, a friction-plate fixed in said shuttle to act on one side of the yarn being led from the bobbin, and a tension-lever provided with a freely-rotatable roller having its axis substantially at right angles tothe said eye, said roller acting horizontally and supporting the yarn on its way from the bobbin through said eye, and yielding means acting normally to move the roller of said tensionlever toward the face of said friction-plate.

2. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprising a plate to sustain one side of the yarn when the yarn is at rest in the shuttle, a vertical pivot, and a spring-controlled lever having a recess at its lower edge to enable the yarn after passing between said plate and lever to be led away substantially at right angles to the planes of the faces of said rest and lever.

3. A loom-shuttle having a delivery-eye, a tension device comprising aspring-controlled lever having a roller to sustain the side of the yarn next to and entering said deliveryeye, and an opposed friction-plate having a portion with which the free end of said lever coacts, the upper edge of the friction-plate being located below the upper end of said roller to sustain the yarn and cause the same under strain to enter automatically the space between the said roller and friction-plate.

4. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprising a lever provided at one end with a freely-rotatable roller about which the yarn is drawn as the same is being delivered from the shuttle, said roller being mounted on a vertical axis at right angles to the deliveryeye and acting horizontally, a spring to move said lever and roller in a direction opposite that in which it may be moved by strain on the thread, and a friction plate toward which said roller presses the yarn. in a yielding manner.

5. A loom-shuttle having a delivery-eye and a bobbin combined with a tension device comprising a lever provided at one end with a roller mounted to swing in and parallel with the horizontal plane containing the axis of the delivery-eye and about which the yarn is drawn as the same is being delivered from the shuttle, a friction-plate, a spring to sus tain said lever and rollerin a yielding manner, the strain of the yarn being drawn over said roller moving the roller away from the friction-plate, and in the arc of a circle away from the end of the bobbin.

6. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprising a curvilinear spring-actuated tensionlever and a friction-plate having its upper edge lower than the upper edge of the acting part of said tension-lever to aid in sustaining and then directing the yarn between the tension-lever and the friction-plate.

7. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprisingacurvilinearspring-actuated tensionlever having a roller, a contactplate having its upper edge located at a lower level than the upper end of said roller, and a pivot to pivot said lever on said friction-plate.

8. A mechanical tension device for loomshuttles comprising a curvilinear spring-actuated tension-lever, a roll mounted at the free end of said lever, acontact-plate having its outer end or bearing-surface lower than is the roll at the free end of said lever and both said contact-plate and lever being mounted at one end upon a single screw, the said screw, and the lever-actuating spring upon said screw.

9. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprising a curvilinear spring-actuated tensionlever to sustain the yarn in opposition to the strain thereon during the delivery of the yarn, and a friction-plate against which said lever may press said yarn, and a pivot for said lever, said lever and plate being shaped to leave an open space for a wad of yarn, through which space the yarn may be drawn on its way out of the shuttle.

10. A loom-shuttle having a delivery-eye, a tension device contained within the shuttle and comprising two members consisting of a spring-controlled lever to sustain the side of the yarn next to and entering said delivcry-eye, and the other member consisting of a friction-plate having a portion with which the free end of said lever coacts, one of said tension members being lower than the other to sustain the yarn and cause the same under strain to enter automatically the space between said members.

11. A tension device for loom-shuttles comprising a curvilinear spring-actuated tensionlever and a friction-plate against which said lever may press the yarn, and a pivot for said lever, said lever and plate being shaped to leave an open space for the wad through which space the yarn may be drawn on its way out p of the shuttle.

12. A mechanical tension device for loomshuttles comprising a contact-plate having a flat base provided with a perforation, a curvilinear spring-actuated tension-lever adapted for normal contact with said contact-plate and provided with a roll to bear upon the latter, a screw passing through one end of said lever and through the perforation in the base of said contact-plate, and a suitable tension spring adjustably mounted upon said screw and adapted to actuate said lever.

13. A loom-shuttle provided with the ordinary bobbin-chamber, a chamber in the toe of said shuttle in which one end of the shuttle-eye terminates and provided at one side with an overhanging top or projection, a mechanical tension device disposed within said chamber and comprising a spring-actuated tension-lever and a contact-plate, said lever being located partially beneath the overhanging top of said chamber and mounted at one end with one end of said contact-plate upon a screw disposed within an opening formed for the purpose at a point adjacent to said chamber, the said opening connecting with said chamber and adapted to accommodate the connecting ends of said contact-plate and tension-lever, an adjustable tension-spring mounted upon said screw, and a transverse bridge or elevation disposed between said bobbin-cham her and the chamber containing said tension device, substantially for the purposeset forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED BALD WIN.

Witnesses:

J. B. TEURSTON, JOHN GAGE. 

